System and method for defining areas of interest and modifying asset monitoring in relation thereto

ABSTRACT

System and method for tracking assets comprises determining if an asset is inside a geofence area, using a first set of asset monitoring parameters to monitor operation of the asset, if the asset is inside the geofence area, and using a second set of asset monitoring parameters to monitor operation of the asset, if the asset is outside the geofence area. The invention further comprises a system and method for providing one or more competitors with an asset tracking device, wherein the asset tracking device allows each competitor&#39;s location to be monitored, defining one or more geofence areas on a racetrack, and detecting when the competitors enter a designated geofence area.

CLAIM FOR PRIORITY

This application claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 11/772,661filed Jul. 2, 2007, which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to a system and method formonitoring vehicle and asset movement and, more particularly, to asystem and method for defining areas and/or regions of interest formodifying asset monitoring parameters based upon location.

BACKGROUND

Geofences are used to define geographical areas so that vehicle locationcan be monitored with respect to those areas. A vehicle's location canbe determined using a Global Positioning System (GPS) as is known. Thevehicle's current location can be compared to a geofence area todetermine if the vehicle is inside or outside the geofence area. Ageofence is typically defined using a simple geographic shape, such as acircle, square or rectangle. For example, a circular geofence is definedby a central point and a radius is assigned to that point. All of thearea within the radius around the central point is within the geofencedarea. Areas having one or more irregularly shaped boundaries are notaccurately represented by simple geometric shapes. There are many areas,such as neighborhoods, cities, towns, industrial parks, roads, and thelike, that cannot be adequately or precisely defined using simple shapessuch as circles or rectangles that are available in current geofenceapplications. To geofence these areas, a large geofence area thatoverlaps both the target area and some of the surrounding area is oftenused to geofence such irregularly shaped locations.

Alternatively, multiple overlapping geofence areas must be created, suchas a series of overlapping circles or squares, to cover areas such as aroad, highway, or a region or shape on a lake, ocean, or river with ageofence. To determine if vehicles are within the geofence area, theremust be an evaluation against all of the individual geofenced areasinstead of one comprehensive area. Similar to the large, overlappinggeofence area discussed above, to ensure that all of the target area iscovered, these smaller individual geofence areas typically overlap somelocations that are not intended to be within the target geofence area.Accordingly, the accuracy of the geofence varies depending upon theshape of the target area and the available geofencing tools.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment of the invention, a system and method for trackingassets comprises determining if an asset is inside a geofence area orzone of interest. If the asset is inside the area or zone, a first setof asset monitoring parameters is used to monitor the operation of theasset. If the asset is outside the area or zone, a second set of assetmonitoring parameters is used to monitor operation of the asset. Theasset may be a vehicle that is monitored using a vehicle monitoringsystem capable of detecting the vehicle's speed. For example, thevehicle monitoring system may use a first set of speed parameters whenmonitoring the vehicle, if the vehicle is inside the geofence area orzone of interest. The vehicle monitoring system may use a second set ofspeed parameters for monitoring the vehicle, if the vehicle is outsidethe geofence area or zone of interest. The first and second sets ofspeed parameters may be used to provide feedback to the driver upondetection of a speeding condition. The first and second sets of speedparameters may also be used to trigger messages to a supervisor, parentor other authority upon detection of a speeding condition.

The vehicle monitoring system may also or alternatively be capable ofdetecting acceleration forces acting on the vehicle. The vehiclemonitoring system may use a first set of acceleration parameters tomonitor the vehicle, if the vehicle is inside the geofence area or zoneof interest; and the vehicle monitoring system may use a second set ofacceleration parameters to monitor the vehicle, if the vehicle isoutside the geofence area or zone of interest. The first and second setsof acceleration parameters may be used to provide feedback to the driverbased upon vehicle acceleration measurements. The first and second setsof acceleration parameters may also be used to trigger messages to asupervisor, parent or other authority based upon vehicle accelerationmeasurements.

The zone of interest or geofence area may have any shape, such as amulti-sided shape defined by a geographic region, a circular shapedefined by a radius around a selected point, a polygon, or an irregularpolygon. A geofence area or zone of interest having an irregular polygonshape may be drawn by sequentially designating locations of vertices ofthe irregular polygon. Alternatively, the region may be established by amathematical spline or other mathematical procedure by designating aseries of points that will then define the region. In anotherembodiment, the area of interest or geofence may be drawn over a map andthe locations of the vertices selected from points on the map.

In one embodiment of the invention, a system and method of trackingevents in a race comprises providing one or more competitors with anasset tracking device. The asset tracking device allows eachcompetitor's location to be monitored. One or more geofence areas orzones of interest are defined on a racetrack or other area. The systemdetects when the competitors enter a designated geofence area or zone ofinterest. The system and method may further detect when the competitorsleave the designated area or zone. The competitors may be detected uponentering the designated area or zone without regard to whether thecompetitors stop in or pass through the designated area or zone. Thedesignated area or zone may be a finish line or other section of a racetrack in which case the present invention may be used in an accountingfunction to track laps completed by competitors. The invention may beused to count a number of times each competitor enters the designatedarea or zone. The designated geofence area or zone of interest may be apit area or a safety area, for example. The competitors may bemotor-powered vehicles (e.g. cars, trucks, trains, planes, boats, etc),human-powered vehicles, electro-mechanical devices (e.g. robots, etc.),humans or animals.

In another embodiment, a system and method of determining ifnon-competitors are clear of a racetrack comprises providing one or morenon-competitors with an asset tracking device. The asset tracking deviceallows each non-competitor's location to be monitored. One or more zonesof interest or geofence areas off of the racetrack are designated. Thesystem detects when the non-competitors are within one or moredesignated off-track areas or zones. The system and method may furtherdetect when the non-competitors leave the one or more designated areasor zones and/or when the non-competitors are stopped in the one or moredesignated areas or zones. The designated off-track zones or areas maybe a safety zone. The system and method may determine when all of theone or more non-competitors are within the designated area or zone andmay indicate that the racetrack is clear of non-competitors. In thisexample, non-competitors may include emergency service vehicles or pacevehicles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptionstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system according to one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a zone of interest for use in one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates another zone of interest for use in anotherembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates an area incorporating embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5A illustrates a detailed area incorporating embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5B illustrates a detailed area incorporating alternate embodimentsof the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a detailed area incorporating additional embodimentsof the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a detailed area incorporating additional embodimentsof the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a detailed area incorporating additional embodimentsof the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a detailed area incorporating additional embodimentsof the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating one process for implementing thepresent invention;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating another process for implementing thepresent invention; and

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating another process for implementing thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts thatcan be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specificembodiments discussed are merely illustrative of specific ways to makeand use the invention, and do not limit the scope of the invention.

With reference now to FIG. 1, there is shown a vehicle 101 in which avehicle monitoring device is installed. The monitoring device may beself-contained, such as a single unit mounted on a windshield 105 ordashboard 106. Alternatively, the monitoring device may include multiplecomponents, such as a processor or central unit mounted under a car seat103 or in a trunk 104. Similarly, the monitoring device may have aself-contained antenna in the unit (105), or may be connected toremotely mounted antennas 107. The vehicle monitoring unit may beconnected to an on-board diagnostic (OBD) system or data bus in thevehicle. Information and data associated with the operation of thevehicle may be collected from the OBD system, such as engine operatingparameters, vehicle identification, seatbelt use, door position, etc.The OBD system may also be used to power the vehicle monitoring device.The vehicle monitoring system may also be coupled to other sensors ordetectors that monitor engine performance and vehicle operationparameters. In one embodiment, the vehicle monitoring device is of thetype described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/755,556, filed onMay 30, 2007, entitled “System and Method for Evaluating DriverBehavior,” the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

Information may be exchanged between the vehicle monitoring system and acentral monitoring system or server in real-time or at intervals. Forexample, the vehicle operation parameters may be transmitted to server109 via communication network 108, which may be a cellular, satellite,WiFi, Bluetooth, infrared, ultrasound, short wave, microwave or anyother suitable network. Server 109 may process the parameters and/orstore the data to database 110, which may be part of server 109 or aseparate device located nearby or at a remote location. Users can accessthe data on server 109 and database 110 using terminal 111, which may beco-located with server 109 and database 110 or coupled via the Internetor other network connection. Is some embodiments, the data captured bythe monitoring system in vehicle 101 may be transmitted via a hardwiredcommunication connection, such as an Ethernet connection that isattached to vehicle 101 when the vehicle is within a service yard or ata base station. Alternatively, the data may be transferred via a flashmemory, diskette, or other memory device that can be directly connectedto server 109 or terminal 111. Data, such as driving performance orwarning thresholds, may also be uploaded from the central server to thevehicle monitoring device in a similar manner.

The vehicle monitoring device uses one or more sets of parameters orthresholds while monitoring the vehicle. Each set of monitoringparameters define thresholds associated with the operation of thevehicle. For example, the vehicle monitoring device receives inputsrelated to vehicle speed, acceleration, and location and to driverbehavior, such as seatbelt use and cell phone use. The monitoringparameters define thresholds or criteria for each of these inputs, suchas maximum allowed vehicle speeds or accelerations or whether the driveris required to use seatbelts. The monitoring parameters also define whataction to take if one of the thresholds or criteria is exceeded. Forexample, if the vehicle is speeding above a speed threshold, themonitoring parameters may define that the monitoring system should warnthe driver and/or notify a supervisor regarding the speeding condition.

The monitoring parameters may also define a grace period or delay inwhich the user can self-correct the speeding condition. For example, ifthe driver is passing another vehicle, the monitoring system may detecta speeding condition, but may be configured to delay warning the driverfor 30 seconds or some other length of time. If the driver corrects thespeeding condition, such as by returning to a posted highway speed afterpassing the other vehicle, the delay may prevent a warning from beingsent to the driver. Other delays may be used for alerts or notices tosupervisors if speeding or other threshold violations are correctedwithin a specified time of the violation or from when the driver iswarned by an in-vehicle warning light or message.

The vehicle monitoring system may use more than one set of monitoringparameters, criteria or thresholds. For example, two sets of speedingand acceleration criteria may be used by the vehicle monitoring systemto adjust the operation of the vehicle monitoring system in twodifferent locations. One set of criteria may allow the driver to exceedspeed limits by 5 MPH without warning and may set the accelerationlimitations higher to allow the driver to drive more aggressively inmost cities. However, if one city is known to have speed traps or towrite more tickets, the vehicle monitoring system may be configured touse a different, more restrictive set of monitoring criteria in thatcity. Using a geofence, the boundaries of the city with speed traps maybe identified to the monitoring system. When the vehicle enters thatgeofenced area, the monitoring system may be configured to switch to themore restrictive monitoring criteria. Using the present invention, ageofence can be established around any location and a unique set ofvehicle monitoring criteria can be configured for each geofence area.Any vehicle or driver parameters that are monitored by the vehiclemonitoring system may be configured specifically for a particular area.

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of the invention in which a vehiclemonitoring system uses different sets of monitoring criteria orthresholds in different locations. Map 200 represents a geographic area,such as, for example, a metropolitan area or city. Zone of interest 201has been defined with in the metropolitan area. Zone 201 is bounded byhighways 21-24 in the example of FIG. 2. It will be understood that anygeographic or other reference may be used to define a zone of interest,such as a state or interstate highway, main thoroughfare, side street,state/city/county line or other governmental boundary, building, parkinglot, industrial complex, river, lake, shoreline, natural terrainfeature, geographic coordinates (e.g. latitude/longitude), or the like.Zone of interest 201 is defined by boundary 202 in the illustratedexample. Boundary 202 may be drawn as an overlay on map 200, forexample, and may be represented by a series of points used to definesegments of boundary line 202. Although only one zone of interest isillustrated in FIG. 2, it will be understood that any number of suchzones may be defined for use with the present invention. Moreover, bydefining zone of interest 201, area 203 also has been defined—i.e. asbeing outside of area 201.

In an embodiment of the invention, a vehicle monitoring system isconfigured to operate using a first set of parameters when a vehicle iswithin zone 201 and using a second set of parameters when the vehicle isin zone 203 (i.e. when it is outside of zone 201). The first parametersmay define a restrictive set of operating criteria or thresholds to beused within zone 201, while the second set of parameters may define a“normal” set of operating criteria or thresholds to be used in otherareas. For example, the vehicle may be a taxi or bus for which zone 201is its assigned working area. The bus or taxi operating company may wantto more strictly regulate, monitor or control vehicles within zone 201.Accordingly, the monitoring criteria and thresholds used within zone 201may reflect that higher level of scrutiny. Within zone 201, themonitoring thresholds may be set to generate mentoring feedback orwarnings to the driver if speeds in excess of a posted limit to anyamount are detected. On the other hand, when operating outside of zone201 (i.e. in area 203), the monitoring thresholds may allow for someexcess speed, such as 10 MPH over posted speed limits, withoutgenerating mentoring feedback or a warning. In other embodiments, themonitoring criteria may provide a grace period to correct excess speedsoutside zone 201, but require immediate correction within area 201.

In other embodiments, the operating parameters that are monitored maydiffer depending upon whether the vehicle is inside zone 201 or in zone203. For example, if the monitored vehicle is a taxi or bus that ispicking up passengers within zone 201, the monitoring system may beconfigured to record information associated with the passengerentry/exit from the vehicle. The monitoring system, upon detecting thatit is within zone of interest 201, may be configured to recordinformation each time a vehicle door is opened or each time the vehiclestops, such as recording video and/or audio of the passengers and driveror determining if a fare meter has started or stopped. When operatingoutside of zone 201, the monitoring system may be configured so that itdoes not record such information upon a vehicle door opening or atvehicle stops, if, for example, the vehicle is out-of-service or offduty when operating in area 203.

It will be understood that the present invention is not limited to thespecific types of vehicles, geofences, or zones of interest that areused in the examples herein. The invention may be applied to vehiclemonitoring systems in a large number of vehicles of different types.Geofenced areas or zones of interest may be defined around hospitals,schools, parks, or other public safety zones. A particular set ofmonitoring criteria may be established for these public safety zones sothat drivers receive additional or more frequent mentoring feedback inthese zones. For example, drivers in any type of vehicle may receivewarnings immediately upon exceeding a posted speed limit while operatingwithin these public safety zones, wherein their vehicle monitoringsystem may otherwise allow them some grace period when operating outsidethe public safety zones.

As noted above, a plurality of zones of interest, such as zone 201, maybe created. A vehicle monitoring system may use a different set ofcriteria in each of the zones. Alternatively, the vehicle monitoringsystem may have a two or more predetermined sets of operating criteriaand each zone may be linked to one or more of these sets of operatingcriteria. When the vehicle monitoring system determines that the vehiclehas entered a new zone, it will then determine which set or sets ofoperating criteria or thresholds to apply in that zone.

FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the invention in whichzone of interest 301 is defined on map 300 by boundary 302. Zone 301includes roads 31-36 so that when a vehicle is operating on roads 31-36,the vehicle is considered to be in zone 301. The area outside of zone301 is labeled as area 303. When the vehicle is operating on roads otherthan 31-36, such as when the vehicle is on roads 37-39, or is anywhereelse outside of zone 301, the vehicle is in area 303. Zone 301 mayrepresent, for example, an assigned or approved route. When the vehicleis operating in zone 301, such as on an assigned route, the vehiclemonitoring system may use a first set of operating parameters. When thevehicle is operating in zone 303, or outside of zone 301, then thevehicle monitoring system may use a second set of operating parameters.

For example, a vehicle, such as a bus, street sweeper, garbage truck, ordelivery truck, may be assigned to a particular route that is withinzone 301. When the vehicle is on its route, a vehicle monitoring systemmay determine that it is within zone 301 using, for example, a currentvehicle location from a GPS unit. While on the route and, therefore,within zone 301, the vehicle monitoring system will use an on-route setof vehicle monitoring parameters. In one embodiment, such on-routeparameters may include specific requirements for vehicle speeds andaccelerations, or limit or require the use of seatbelts, cellulartelephones, turn signals, or other vehicle operations. When operatingoff of the assigned route and, therefore, outside of zone 301, thevehicle monitoring system may use a second set of parameters for zone303. The second set of parameters may be more or less restrictive thanthe first set of parameters and/or may provide for monitoring of more orless parameters than the first set of parameters. For example, seatbeltuse may be monitored in zone 301, but not in zone 303; and speed andacceleration criteria may generate mentoring feedback at lowerthresholds in zone 301 than in zone 303.

It will be understood that multiple zones of interest or geofences forvarious routes may be used in addition to the single zone of interest orgeofence illustrated in FIG. 3. Moreover, a single zone of interest orgeofence may cover one or more routes or may cover partial routes.Additionally, a single route or partial route may be covered by one ormore zones of interest or geofences. In other embodiments, zones ofinterest covering a route, such as zone 301, may be defined and used inthe same system as zones of interest covering larger geographic areas,such as zone 201. For example, a vehicle monitoring system may havethree sets of criteria, a first set for use inside zone 201, a secondset for use in zone 301, and a third set for areas outside both zones201 and 301. In the event that two geofences or zones of interestoverlap in whole or in part so that a vehicle may be in an location thatis linked to two different sets of monitoring parameters, criteria orthresholds, the vehicle monitoring system may be configured to selectone set of monitoring parameters over the other. For example, referringto the zones illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, zone 301 overlaps zone 203and, therefore, a vehicle monitoring system may have to select betweencriteria for zone 301 and criteria for zone 203. The vehicle monitoringsystem may be configured to select the more restrictive or the lessrestrictive monitoring parameters, criteria or thresholds.Alternatively, the vehicle monitoring system may be configured to selectthe group of monitoring parameters, criteria or thresholds that areestablished for the smaller zone or a more specifically defined zone,such as selecting criteria for zone 301 over criteria for zone 203.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the vehicle monitoringsystem may be used in a racing or competitive environment. Speedway 400is illustrated in FIG. 4 having racetrack 401 and pit road 402. Infield403 may be grass or paved, such as infield roads 404 which allow supportvehicles to move around the speedway without interfering with vehicleson the racetrack. Racetrack 401 includes four turns designated generallyas 41-44. A start/finish line 405 is used to identify the start andfinish point for races. Although speedway 400 illustrates a motorvehicle racetrack, such as Phoenix International Raceway, it will beunderstood that the present invention can be used on any speedway orracetrack, including, for example, any paved, grass, turf, dirt,man-made or natural course. The present invention can also be used onland, sea, or in the air (and space). Moreover, the present inventionmay be used with any vehicle or animal competitors, including, forexample, cars, trucks, motorcycles, trains, planes, boats, bicycles,carts, horses, dogs, and humans. It will be further understood that thepresent invention, although illustrated by examples from a racingenvironment, is useable in any other competitive or non-competitiveenvironment or any public, private or government enterprise or businessand, therefore, should not be considered to be limited by the exemplaryembodiments discussed herein.

As is well known, during a race the competitors begin at the startingline 405 and travel around racetrack 401 one or more times dependingupon the length of racetrack 401 and the length of the race. Typically,the race is equated to a number of laps, such as a 200 mile race thatrequires 100 laps on a two-mile racetrack. Each time a competitor passesstart/finish line 405, another lap is counted. As the race progresses,some competitors may fall behind by one or more laps and, as a result,the counting of laps for individual competitors may become moredifficult as the race progresses.

FIG. 5A is a detailed illustration of portion 406 of speedway 400 nearstart/finish line 405. In one embodiment of the invention, geofence 501is created around start/finish line 405. Geofence 501 is a polygon thatmay be created, for example, by designating a latitude and longitude forpoints 51-54, which are the vertices of the polygon having sides 502a-d. It will be understood that the size of geofence 501 may be matchedexactly to the size of start/finish line 405 or may be larger or smallerthan finish line 405 as desired. The monitoring system may be configuredto record when competitors having a monitoring device pass thoughgeofence 501. The number of times that a competitor passes throughgeofence 501 may be tracked and the data can be used to determine lapcounts, lap split times, elapsed race times, average speed, trajectory,and other data. An in-vehicle monitoring system may track the number oflaps and the associated times and/or this information may be forwardedto a central server or database, such as server 109 or database 110 inFIG. 1. A central server that collects lap count data from eachcompetitor may provide centralized race information to users, such asvia terminal 111 or a network or Internet connection. This informationwould allow a race authority to determine, how far and how many lapseach competitor had traveled at any time and how much farther eachcompetitor had to go. The data could be stored for historical analysis,such as average lap speeds or to review lap times and competitor orderfor each lap.

FIG. 5B illustrates an alternate embodiment in which start/finish line405 is covered by two geofences 503 and 504, which may be creates in thesame manner as geofence 501. By establishing two geofences 503 and 504to cover start/finish line 405, the monitoring system would be able todetermine and record whether the competitor had passed the finish linewhile on racetrack 401 or on pit road 402. This would allow the systemto automatically count laps and to automatically determine when acompetitor made a pit stop. It will be understood that geofence 501, 503and 504 may be further divided as needed to provide additionalinformation. For example, geofence 504 may be divided into multiplesections along start/finish line 405 between inside 505 and wall 506,which would provide additional information such as whether thecompetitor passed the start/finish line on the inside, middle or outsidesection of racetrack 401.

It will be further understood that in other embodiments, a geofence areasuch as 501, 503 and 504 may be established anywhere on racetrack 401,such as in turns 41-44 or on backstretch 401 b (FIG. 4). This wouldallow for the automatic collection of additional data, such as partiallap split times, relative speeds between competitors, and relative orderbetween competitors, for example. The present invention may also be usedto designate specific areas on racetrack 401, pit road 402, infield 403,or infield road 404 to determine if a competitor ever passed over thatarea. For example, a geofence area could be established on the inside ofa turn to determine if any, or to count how many, competitors used thatline on racetrack 401. Additionally, geofence zones may be establishedfor each competitor's pit area so that a central server was notifiedeach time a competitor stopped in their pit.

Using embodiments of the present invention, wherein the start/finishline, pit areas, and other portions of the track are designated withgeofences, each vehicle monitoring device could report to the centralserver when it passes through and/or stops in a geofence area. Thelocation reports from the competitors' monitoring system may include an“in-zone” message upon entering the geofence area and an “out-of-zone”message upon leaving the geofence area. If the vehicle monitoring systemsees these two events happen quickly, then it may transmit a locationreport of a transient event or with a combined in-zone and out-of-zoneinformation.

Table 1 is illustrates exemplary vehicle reports for a track in whichgeofences have been set up at the start/finish line, halfway througheach turn, in the middle of the backstretch, at the pit roadstart/finish line, and at each competitor's pit. The geofenced zones onthe track have been further divided into three zones from the inside ofthe track to the wall to determine if the competitor passes each zonelow on the inside, in the middle, or high on the wall. Each time acompetitor enters, passes through, or stops in a geofenced zone, areport is sent to a central server with location information. Table 1illustrates the type of messages that could be received by the centralserver from each competitor.

TABLE 1 Competitor Time Report 1 12:05:31 Pass Pit Road Start/FinishLine 2 12:05:33 Pass Start/Finish Line - High 1 12:05:33 In Pit 312:05:34 Turn 4 - Middle 2 12:05:37 Turn 1 - Middle 3 12:05:38 PassStart/Finish Line - Middle 3 12:05:42 Turn 1 - Low 2 12:05:44 Turn 2 -Middle 2 12:05:48 Backstretch - High 3 12:05:50 Turn 2 - High 2 12:05:52Turn 3 - Middle 1 12:05:54 Out of Pit 3 12:05:57 Turn 3 - Middle 212:05:58 Turn 4 - Low 1 12:05:01 Turn 2 - Low 3 12:05:01 Backstretch -High 2 12:05:02 Pass Start/Finish Line - High

Although the time shown in Table 1 is in hours: minutes: seconds, itwill be understood that based upon the type of competition, furtherprecision may be available, such as tenths, hundredths or thousandths ofseconds at each point. Additionally, although only three competitors areshown in Table 1, it will be understood that the number of competitorsthat can be tracked the by present invention is unlimited.

Table 2 illustrates information available to a race authority based uponthe geofence reports from the competitors. The information in Table 2 isavailable for as static information at specific times or may be dynamicinformation in which the display is updated with each competitor'slocation report. Cross referencing to the example above in Table 1, attime 12:05:50, a race authority could see the information illustrated inTable 2 based upon the competitors' most recent reports.

TABLE 2 Last Average Lap Lap Com- Track Elapsed Elapsed Time/ Time/petitor Lap Position Time Lap Speed Speed 1 52 Pit 48.53 — 27.9/13226.9/132 2 52 Backstretch 48.53 14.5 27.8/132 27.8/132 3 52 Turn 2 48.5312.1 28.5/133 27.5/132

Additional information may be included in the vehicle position reports,such as current speeds and accelerations as well as current engineparameters. This and other information may also be displayed in additionto or in place of the data in Table 2. Preferably, a database, such asdatabase 110, coupled to the central server stores the received locationreports for later recall and analysis. A race authority may selectinformation of interest and configure a display, such as on terminal111, so that the desired information is updated as it is received by thecentral server. Alternatively, the display may be updated at regularintervals, such as every 5, 10, 15 or 30 seconds depending upon theuser's requirements. The information may also be made available to thirdparties, such as via an Internet website for free or by subscription sothat race teams, the media, fans and other interested parties can accessthe information.

In addition to the competitors, other vehicles, animals and/or people,use racetrack 401, pit road 402 and infield roads 404. For example, pacecars may be used to lead cars around racetrack 401 before the racebegins or emergency vehicles, such as ambulances, fire trucks, orwreckers may enter racetrack 401 to assist following a vehicle crash.Before the race can begin or continue after a crash, for example, it isimportant that racetrack 401 is clear of all vehicles, animals and/orpeople other than the competitors. Emergency vehicle staging areas orsafety areas are designated in infield 403 and, when the race is inprogress, all emergency vehicles are required to be in their assignedstaging area. FIG. 6 is a detailed illustration of portion 407 near turn2 of speedway 400. Safety area or staging area 601 provides a locationfor emergency vehicles to park that is clear of racetrack 401 and pitroad 402 while remaining close to racetrack 401 in the event of a crash.Other staging areas in infield 403 or near turns 41, 43, or 44 may alsobe used in other configurations.

Currently, in NASCAR race events, for example, spotters are assigned towatch emergency vehicles. The spotters are used to prevent a race fromcommencing or continuing while non-competitors are still on racetrack401. Before the competitors can begin racing, as indicated by a “greenflag,” each spotter must visually confirm that his or her assignedemergency vehicle/s is/are within their assigned staging area, such asstaging area 601, and report this information to a racetrack authority.Once all the spotters have reported that their assigned emergencyvehicles are within the designated staging areas, the competitors areallowed to return to “green flag racing.”

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of the invention in which geofencearea 701 is defined to overlap staging area 601. Geofence area 701 isdefined by segments 702 a-702 j that link vertices 70-79. Geofence area701 may be formed using a drawing tool similar to the Microsoft®. Paintpolygon tool in which point 70 is selected as an origin using a pointersuch as a mouse. Segment 702 a is drawing by dragging the pointer to anew location and clicking the pointer to fix the location of point 71.Segments 702 b-702 l are formed the same way by dragging the pointer andclicking at points 72-79. The number of points or nodes must be at least3 (sufficient to define a region rather than a line). The geofence areais finished by dragging the pointer to point 70 and clicking ordouble-clicking to form segment 702 j. The geofence area may be created,for example, as an overlay to a mapping program, such as Google™. Mapsthat allows the user to view a map of an area, or a satellite picture ofthe area, or a combination of both.

FIG. 8 illustrates an alternative method for geofencing a staging areausing a circular geofence 801. FIG. 9 illustrates another alternativemethod for geofencing a staging area using a rectangular geofence 901.As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, using a standard circular or rectangulargeofence does not allow one to accurately mark the desired geofence areafor irregularly shaped areas. Areas 802-805 and 902-905, which are partof the desired staging area 601, are not adequately covered by thestandard geofence techniques. Accordingly, it is preferred to use ageofence tool such as that illustrated in FIG. 7 wherein a multi-sidedirregular polygon can be created to more accurately designate thedesired area.

Table 3 illustrates one embodiment of the present invention, in which atrack supervisor or race authority may determine whether each emergencyvehicle, pace car, or other vehicle that may be authorized to be on thetrack during non-race conditions, such as under a “yellow flag” orcaution. The vehicle monitoring system will report to the central serverwhen the vehicle is in an assigned staging area. The central server willmake that information available to users, for example, via a userterminal or a network or Internet connection. This allows a singleindividual to quickly determine if the racetrack is ready for the raceto commence or continue. If, for example, vehicles 5 and 6, twowreckers, are still moving competitors off the racetrack following acrash and are not in their staging area, it will be quickly apparentfrom the emergency vehicle location report in Table 3. A vehicle that isout of the staging area may be designated as “not ready,” “out of area”or by some other characterization.

TABLE 3 Vehicle Vehicle Type Location 1 Supervisor Staging Area 1 2 FireTruck Staging Area 1 3 Fire Truck Staging Area 1 4 Ambulance StagingArea 1 5 Wrecker NOT READY 6 Wrecker NOT READY 7 Fire Truck Staging Area2 8 Fire Truck Staging Area 2 9 Ambulance Staging Area 2 10 AmbulanceStaging Area 2 11 Wrecker Staging Area 2 12 Wrecker Staging Area 2 13Pace Car Staging Area 2

In an alternative embodiment, racetrack 401, infield 403, the pit areaand other areas in the speedway may be designated by geofence areas.This would allow additional information to be presented to the user. Forexample, if the wreckers 5 and 6 were not in the staging area, insteadof merely noting that these vehicles were not ready, the monitoringsystem may notify a track authority as to their actual location, such as“on racetrack,” “in pit area,” or “infield area.”This additionalinformation would allow the track authority to decide if the race shouldcommence or continue. For example, a race would not resume with wreckerson the racetrack, but a restart may be acceptable if the vehicles wereoff the racetrack in the infield or pit area, but not yet in the stagingarea.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating one process for implementing theinvention. In step 1001, an asset monitoring system determines if theasset is within a geofence area. The asset may be a vehicle that istracked using a vehicle monitoring system. In step 1002, if the assetwithin the geofence area, then a first set of asset monitoringparameters are used to monitor the operation of the asset. In step 1003,if the asset is outside the geofence area, then a second set ofmonitoring parameters are used to monitor operation of the asset.Multiple geofence areas may be created each with its own set ofmonitoring parameters so that the asset monitoring system operatesdifferent in each geofenced area.

FIG. 11 is flowchart illustrating an alternative embodiment of theinvention. In step 1101, one or more competitors are provided with anasset tracking device. The asset tracking device allows the location ofeach competitor to be monitored. In step 1102, one or more geofenceareas on a racetrack are defined. In step 1103, it is determined whetherthe competitor has entered one of the geofenced areas.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of the invention.In step 1201 one or more non-competitors are provided with an assettracking device. The asset tracking device allows the location of thenon-competitor to be monitored. In step 1202, one or more geofence areasare defined off of a racetrack. In step 1203, it is determined whetherthe non-competitors are within the one or more off-track geofence areas.

Although the present invention and its advantages have been described indetail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions andalterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, thescope of the present application is not intended to be limited to theparticular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, compositionof matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. Asone of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from thedisclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture,compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing orlater to be developed, that perform substantially the same function orachieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodimentsdescribed herein may be utilized according to the present invention.Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within theirscope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter,means, methods, or steps.

1. A method for tracking assets, comprising: determining if an asset isinside a defined zone; using a first set of asset monitoring parametersto monitor operation of the asset, if the asset is inside the definedzone, wherein the first set of asset monitoring parameters comprises afirst threshold associated with a first monitoring parameter and theinside of the defined zone; and using a second set of asset monitoringparameters to monitor operation of the asset, if the asset is outsidethe defined zone, wherein the second set of asset monitoring parameterscomprises a second threshold associated with the first monitoringparameter and the outside of the defined zone.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the asset is a vehicle.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein theoperation of the vehicle is monitored using a vehicle monitoring systemthat provides mentoring feedback to a driver.
 4. The method of claim 2,wherein the vehicle is monitored using a vehicle monitoring systemcapable of detecting the vehicle's speed, and wherein the vehiclemonitoring system uses a first set of speed parameters, if the vehicleis inside the defined zone; and the vehicle monitoring system uses asecond set of speed parameters, if the vehicle is outside the definedzone.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first and second sets ofspeed parameters are used to provide feedback to the driver upondetection of a speeding condition.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein thefirst and second sets of speed parameters are used to trigger messagesto a third-party upon detection of a speeding condition.
 7. The methodof claim 2, wherein the vehicle is monitored using a vehicle monitoringsystem capable of detecting acceleration forces acting on the vehicle,and wherein the vehicle monitoring system uses a first set ofacceleration parameters, if the vehicle is inside the defined zone; andthe vehicle monitoring system uses a second set of accelerationparameters, if the vehicle is outside the defined zone.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the first and second sets of acceleration parametersare used to provide feedback to the driver based upon vehicleacceleration measurements.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the firstand second sets of acceleration parameters are used to trigger messagesto a supervisor or parent based upon vehicle acceleration measurements.10. The method of claim 1, wherein the defined zone has a multi-sidedshape defined by a geographic region.
 11. The method of claim 1, whereinthe defined zone has a circular shape defined by a radius around aselected point.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: definingthe defined zone by drawing an irregular polygon, wherein the irregularpolygon is drawn by sequentially designating locations of vertices ofthe irregular polygon.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the irregularpolygon is drawn over a map and the locations of the vertices areselected from points on the map.